


No One Wants To Hear That Grandpa Was Kind Of A Slut

by PoisonHemloc



Category: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Everyone lives!AU, Gen, if you're reading this on an app an not ao3 they're making money off my work so. dont., logically this is canon divergent but also you can't prove that, there's a couple more characters here but I don't feel like making more new tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 13:57:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20640305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonHemloc/pseuds/PoisonHemloc
Summary: Genichiro can't sleep and finds an old book to pass the time before daybreak





	1. Of Every Book Gyoubu Could Have Grabbed He Got This One

**Author's Note:**

> When locking the 25 year old in his room in case he starts harassing his cousin make sure to give him enrichment! Like a kong toy full of eel liver ** Gyoubu Oniwa has read the title of this fic ** Genichiro has a little bit of a freak out- really should have gone with my enrichment idea, not given him a book ** Gyoubu has told several people the title of this fic

Genichiro looked out his window for a hint of the sunrise despite knowing it would still be dark out. It was difficult enough to sleep now, but he knew he would not be allowed to leave his quarters until whichever retainer was babysitting- no, _supervising_\- him that day came.  


The process of recovering from using the Rejuvenating Sediment had been difficult for him. Not really the physical recovery, though being stabbed through the gut had made him wish for a moment it would have killed him, but the mental recovery. Shedding his humanity had been easy, but now that the Interior Ministry was not an immediate threat, he was forced to take up his role as the Ashina Lord in Charge and the country would not accept the demon created through his choices and the Sediment.

The effects of the Sediment would fade, eventually, but Ashina could not wait that long; so the process was being sped up, and part of that was submitting to whatever convoluted method his retainers had devised to restore his humanity over the past three weeks, in the hope that regaining his shed humanity would speed along the process.

So far it their plan appeared to be at least one of them accompanying him everywhere he went, his sword, bow, and multi-use knife being confiscated, and alternating between going to the villages surrounding Ashina Castle proper to talk to the peasants or walking the outskirts conversing with soldiers for the majority of the day; he believed they were trying to ground him by surrounding him with people.

He wished he could talk to someone who wasn’t unsubtly checking if he was going to go off the deep end again, but even if he hadn’t been locked in his room he was ordered to remain in the castle at night. Grandfather was probably asleep; he was recovering from whatever Emma had done to cure his illness. Genichiro had not seen Gyoubu Oniwa almost at all; he was on forced bed rest, since he had only taken the Rejuvenating Waters before he had been stabbed through the throat and chest. He would take longer to recover from the Shinobi of the Divine Heir cutting a bloody path through the outskirts of the castle to find Lord Kuro.

  
The shinobi… Genichiro would gladly surrender his humanity again to protect the country that had taken him in after his mother was killed. He knew the shinobi-Wolf, the man was called, but that was barely a name, and it seemed vaguely demeaning to refer to an adult by some shinobi nickname- had also been orphaned young, but an older shinobi called Owl had found him before Grandfather and his retainers had checked over the battlefield. Genichiro was glad he had avoided the older man’s fate.

  
Wolf never seemed to change his facial expression; he barely altered his tone of voice; he had apparently been completely confused several days prior when Lord Kuro was asking him how to shave with a razor, before giving up and asking Genichiro in a possible signal of forgiveness. Apparently the man used a knife to shave like the barbarian he was. He had no manners to speak of beyond treating his master like the retainer he was and stood barely five feet tall, probably due to malnutrition.

  
Genichiro looked at him and knew that had Owl taken a different route through the battlefield that day it was very likely their lives could have been switched, and for that he would fight all the harder for the country that had ensured he’d live, and live as a human rather than some half-feral creature.

  
Genichiro felt a stab of pain in his side, where he’d been stabbed through the gut, and decided to focus on something else. His retainers were also trying to have him avoid focusing on his recent actions. Something about it being detrimental to his recovery. He quietly suspected they merely did not want him obsessing about losing twice to some shinobi.

  
He had no reports to go over, no expenses to review, no urgent memo from a general in the outskirts; someone had taken over everything since neither Ashina men were believed to be able to handle the paperwork of running a country currently. That meant nothing to do right now except reread the handful of books in his room or scour the floorspace for the handful of books that had gone missing.

  
Glancing around his room for some distraction, he saw the small chest, like he had so many times before it appeared to be just a background fixture. He rarely opened it; those memories hurt, too, but it was a different pain, an older pain he was used to. That would do as a distraction until someone came to unlock his door.

  
The chest held everything Gyoubu and Grandfather had managed to save from his life before Isshin had adopted him. He knew the upper most layer of items well; a worn blanket his grandmother had made when she was young, a handful of old makeshift toys, the small knife his mother had always kept. He lifted them out with care and looked at the items underneath that he somehow never managed to really see. A linen kimono, faded with age, that probably was his first grandfathers; while the man had passed away while Genichiro was very young, he remembered that he had been a low class merchant and only wore it occasionally. It had probably been saved in case he could wear it, but Genichiro was easily a foot and a half taller than his first grandparents. A small hand mirror with inexpertly carved flowers on it, probably his mothers. And…

  
Genichiro frowned as he pulled out the book. He rarely opened this chest, even more rarely looked past the first layer of items, and had forgotten any of the family’s old books had been saved. This book was as thick as his wrist, but it had not been originally; someone appeared to have pasted more pages into it several times. There was no writing on the cover, but when he opened it there was a neat hand he had not seen in years declaring it the property of his grandmother. He turned a few pages and realized this book, randomly saved from the handful that had been in their small home, was his grandmother’s diary. She had written in it if she felt something important had happened that day; as the rebellion had drawn closer, she had written in it less, her days taken over by covert preparations both for Isshin’s forces and in case the small family had to flee.

  
Not that those preparations had helped, Genichiro reflected. She had been killed by an exploratory party of Tamura’s forces a few days before the main bulk of his fighters had cut through the village. He shook himself from the old memories; their pain was mostly extinguished after nights of tears, but it was not somewhere he wanted to dwell.

  
Genichiro replaced the other contents of the chest carefully. The diary would do as a distraction. If he was lucky he might be able to find her account of some of his hazier, happier memories. He flipped a few pages; she had started writing the diary as a teenager and a lot of the early entries were concerned with her friends who were long dead, from age or from the coup. A few words in faded ink caught his eye; an entry talking about excitement for her upcoming marriage to a local merchant, his first grandfather. “_...in a week. There’s no need to tell him about last week. I met a samurai named-_” Genichiro finished the sentence and looked up, wide eyes staring at the opposite wall and shaking hands snapping the diary shut. He felt like he was facing down another samurai in battle, like he was ready to start running or begin shooting. He had read the sentence wrong, he must have.

* * *

“Isshin, that boy is very like you,” Gyoubu Oniwa had finally decided to get to the point of his visit, beyond drinking Isshin’s good sake. “Haven’t you noticed? He has your same smile. And I watched him pick up a stick pretending he had a sword yesterday and he used it like you used to.”

“He’s a child! Of course he’s mimicking me. That’s what they do when they’re this young! They pretend to be their parents! Or grandparents.” Isshin paused for a draught of his sake. “What are you thinking Gyoubu?”

“You’re sure-”

“I have been leading a rebellion for the last six years, Gyoubu! I did not have a five year old running around in a border village for all you want to keep asking. I do not have_ any_ children running around anywhere, Gyoubu, and you know that. That is it! He is my grandchild now.” _Now stop_ were the unspoken words.

  
Gyoubu knew Isshin well enough to know to leave the topic alone, and well enough to know the man could not lie directly to someone’s face convincingly. But he had also known Isshin for a long time, since his bandit group had tried to attack one of Isshin’s villages and been repulsed by the defense, long enough to know his reputation as a young hotshot winning battles across Ashina. And as the Genichirio grew and he noticed the large and small similarities, Gyoubu never was able to shake the suspicion that the younger Ashina lord was not just adopted into the clan.

* * *

Genichiro opened the diary again and began flipping through it looking for the page he had closed it on. The text was old and faded; years had not been kind to the ink or the paper. He had probably misread something, or there had been a different samurai named Isshin near his grandmother’s village. She had not mentioned a clan; it must have been a different man. Or maybe it was someone claiming to be Isshin. But even if it wasn’t, what difference would it make? Isshin had been, well, _popular_ once he started winning battles but no grandson wanted to read about that.

  
Genichiro wondered, for a moment, why he was concerned about what Isshin had been doing long before he was born, but he had not realized Isshin knew his grandmother at all, let alone in this context. He scanned the next page and a sentence he did not want to see, a sentence he was dreading once he saw Isshin’s name the first time, caught his eye. “_...and I believe this might be Isshin’s. I should tell him, but I am not sure if I showing up at the Ashina stronghold with a baby is the way. I’ll be called a liar. He’s going to be too busy for a child soon, but maybe after his plans; anyway-_”

Genichiro shut the diary a second time and stood up. His hands had been shaking since the first time he read his adopted- no, maybe not just adopted- grandfather’s name. He looked back at the book and the thought crept in; Isshin must know. She must have told him at some point and he had left them in that village anyway. It could not be coincidence that he had found his own grandchild on a battlefield. Isshin must have planned it.

  
This thought was too much. If Genichiro stayed cooped up in this room he was going to start screaming. If nothing else he had to go do _something_. He glanced outside; the horizon was barely beginning to lighten.

  
A benefit of having an ex-bandit help raise you was owning lockpicks and knowing how to use them, even on the difficult locks his retainers were careful to put on his door until they were sure he was back to normal. Genichiro had wanted to show the retainers he was willing to cooperate with them by not breaking out of his room at night but that did not matter anymore. Even if Gyoubu knew that lock picking wasn’t a skill a noble child should learn, he had assumed it would be essential anyway, and Genichiro silently thanked him for it. He stood outside the room for a moment, staring up towards the corridor that lead to Isshin’s quarters.

  
But what do you say? Grandfather, I know we’re actually related? Grandfather, why didn’t you tell me? Grandfather, were you waiting to see if I would figure this out myself? Why did you leave us in that village? Why didn’t you do something? No. He couldn’t confront Isshin until he knew how, knew what to say, and right now he had no idea where to even start.

  
Genichiro did know where the soldiers’ spare bows were kept. The armory would be locked like his room had been, but that was generally a much simpler lock. He always thought better during training, letting his body go through the motions and freeing his mind to focus. He wasn’t allowed to leave the castle but to hell with it. He already hadn’t wanted to be locked in here; this had made it worse. Genichiro closed and relocked the door, and left, taking the diary with him.

* * *

“Isshin, you must see how similar you and Genichiro are.” Tomoe rarely removed her mask normally; only Isshin and Lord Takeru knew her well enough for the privilege of seeing the strange, inhuman face with eyes that shifted colors like the ocean. She had turned down the offer of sake, a rarity from anyone calling on Isshin Ashina, and had kneeled politely before him.

  
“Gensai Nogami was here from the Hirata estates three days ago and even he remarked how Genichiro got tired at the same rate you did when you were learning the sword. Both of you make the same face when you are tired and decide to push through and keep fighting. He is still growing but I am convinced he will be close to your height and you know your clan is taller than most of the peasants here. I have not seen you shoot-”

  
“No, Tomoe.” Five years of this same argument- from Tomoe, once she began training Genichiro earlier that year, from Gyoubu since they had found him, from Shikibu and Shume- had caused Isshin’s mostly cheerful denial to become a tired refusal to entertain the topic.

  
“He is not my son. I have told you this many times before. And I am displeased that you seem to keep bringing this up.” His good eye focused on hers over his sake cup. “I do not have children. If I had I would not have left my own in a peasant family on the border of Ashina. And you know that. And so does Gyoubu who keeps putting you up to this. I am not going to hear more on this topic from either of you. I am done! You will stop. And so will he.” Tomoe bit back her response and bowed her head in submission, then replaced her mask and left.

  
She had more pressing things to worry about, including Lord Takeru’s fragile health, to continue trying to convince Isshin Ashina that there were too many similarities between the Ashina Lord and his 10 year old adopted grandson to be mere coincidence.

  
She arrived at a small chamber in an outlying wing of the castle and nodded at the handful of men waiting inside. Gyoubu and the other four remaining members of the Seven Ashina Spears had been talking quietly, but all looked up attentively as she closed the door, waiting to see if she had finally managed to convince Isshin.

  
“Lord Isshin has ordered us to stop.” There were a handful of groans and one of the quieter generals held out his hand for the small pouch of sen Shikibu Yamauchi handed him.

  
“He’s always refused to even entertain the idea that Genichiro might be related. He won’t even consider that he may have a child or grandchild somewhere. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the actual order.” Gyoubu sighed. “And Genichiro doesn’t suspect at least, because I don’t know how he would react.”

  
“I’m surprised Genichiro is the only one we’ve found like this.” Shume Masaji Oniwa leaned forward. “I’ve known Isshin for a very long time. I knew him before we began planning the coup, back when both of us were learning how to use the sword. I would have expected to find more children, or grandchildren,” he sighed. “I know he doesn’t think that’s possible but I don’t think he got that sick. Maybe we missed someone? Out on the border, like Genichiro was? One alone might be a coincidence he can deny but several-”

  
“Enough.” Gyoubu stood, holding his spear. “We have been ordered to stop. Debating further among ourselves will not change Isshin’s mind nor will it help if Genichiro hears us. We shall have to consider this matter shut.” Gyoubu nodded to them and strode out of the room. Tomoe left in a different direction as the other generals began standing and leaving the chamber. Lord Takeru had been coughing more recently and she needed to ask Dogen to check on him before she began sparring with Genichiro in the afternoon.


	2. Not Pictured: Drawing Straws On Who Gets To Tell Isshin Genichiro Took Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out that finding out that a huge part of your identity is both true and false at the same time can cause some issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait I’m so busy talking about the antagonist here where’s the dude this game is named after? ** Isshin really didn’t want to deal with you today Jinsuke that’s why you were on Genichiro duty ** You know most people don’t deal with a breakdown by going to the archery range but you do you ** Gyoubu if you keep trying to get up Emma is going to drug you

Lord Kuro generally rose with the sun. Wolf appeared once he was fully awake, climbing in noiselessly through the open window in the library. Before Kuro could greet his shinobi, raised voices from nearby called his attention.

“He isn’t here! Where did he go?” Kuro looked up at Wolf with wide eyes; his shinobi had grabbed at Kusabimaru once the shouting started. The voices had been near Genichiro’s quarters. Wolf’s jaw tightened fractionally. It was an open secret that Genichiro was being accompanied everywhere until his retainers were sure the effects of the Rejuvenating Sediment were completely gone. If he was out alone, especially considering that he had been pressuring Kuro into abandoning his oath with Wolf the last time he was alone in the castle…

Kuro looked at potential next few days if Genichiro had relapsed then looked up brightly at his shinobi. “Wolf, I remember you said the Divine Child of Rejuvenation expressed a wish to meet me? I think I would like to meet her as well and this seems an excellent time. And I remember you mentioned how beautiful Mt. Kongo is, I would like to look around. I’ll leave a note that we may be gone for several days.” Wolf nodded, relieved. It would be easier to keep his master safe far away from whatever new turn Genichiro’s recovery had taken.

“We can use the Sculptor’s Idol. I can show you how. The Idol outside the sanctum is tuned to this one already.”

* * *

“Lord Isshin?” Isshin Ashina frowned as he heard Jinsuke Saze call his name. While he welcomed distraction as he was supposed to be confined to his quarters, he had not heard Genichiro’s louder footsteps coming towards this room. That meant this was just the one retainer who should not be calling on him alone today. He rose and opened the door to his quarters before frowning at the shorter man.

“Jinsuke! If I recall correctly you are accompanying my grandson today. You were supposed to be getting him by dawn. It is several hours past. Why are you here without him?”

“Lord Genichiro was not in his quarters this morning.” Jinsuke’s mouth was dry; _no one_ had wanted to be the one to tell Isshin that their security measures over his grandson were apparently made of paper. The man had even locked the door behind him!

“We do know where he is though! He’s in the castle outskirts, shooting at targets. It...looks like he broke into the armory and took a bow and a quiver of arrows.” And locked _that_ door behind him, too. Most of the retainers knew that Gyoubu had taught Genichiro how to pick locks when he was young; Isshin had thought it was funny and refused to put a stop to it.

“Shume and Kuranosuke have been trying to talk to him but he hasn’t answered beyond telling them to go away-” Jinsuke backed off as Isshin sighed and began walking out the door.

“Tell everyone to go back to their duties. I shall send the generals back and I will talk with him.”

* * *

Genichiro was tall enough that Isshin could see him clearly around the weeds that grew throughout the outskirts. He could see his adopted grandson aiming at a distant target with one of the soldier’s longbows as one of the few surviving Ashina Spears approached cautiously from one side. He saw Genichiro’s head turn, eyes narrow and mouth in a frown, to see the general walking towards him.

And then he watched Genichiro dropped the bow down so it pointed at the ground; even from this distance he heard the snarled “Go away” before the bow was swung back into a shooting stance and the arrow loosed into a target rather than loosed into one of the Ashina’s few surviving rebellion leaders. His shoulders released some tension he had not realized he was holding as he walked up behind Shume and clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

“Go back to the castle and take Kuranosuke with you. And anyone else hanging around! I am going to talk with my grandson.” He walked over to Genichiro as Shume grabbed the other samurai from a position behind them and walked slightly faster than necessary out of the outskirts. As curious as they were about what had happened- Genichiro was not being as aggressive as the Sediment made its users, just angry- no force in Ashina would make them disobey an order from Isshin given in that tone.

“Genichiro.” Isshin was startled to see his grandson’s face; his eyes were red, not like when he had shed his humanity, but like he’d been crying. He pointed the bow at the ground again and Isshin saw his arms were shaking, too. “Wha-”

“You. I- No. Read this.” Isshin took the old book thrust towards him. He looked at the spine, hoping for a title, and saw it had been widened inexpertly several times; some of the pages in the last quarter of the book were nearly falling out.

“_All_ of this?” He asked, already opening it. Isshin was not the fastest reader in Ashina; this size book might take a few days for him. The inside of the cover declared it the property of a name he didn’t know- wait, no, he had known this girl, hadn't he? Genichiro’s grandmother. They had met a few times when she was helping her husband selling cloth and he was inspecting the villages. She had always had a small smile, like she knew something no one else did, but was polite enough. The book must have been something Gyuobu rescued from Genichiro’s home when Isshin had adopted him. There was something crossed out on the first page but if he had to read this entire thing he wouldn’t worry about a small detail like that.

“It’s all in the first quarter. Look for her writing about her marriage.” And Genichiro began shooting at the targets again. Usually his arrows clustered around the bull’s-eye, but between his shaking hands and the occasional shaky inhalation the target looked like a novice was practicing with it.

It took a few minutes for Isshin to get to that part. Genichiro heard a quiet “oh.” He had expected Isshin to start trying to explain and was correct.

“Geni-”

“The next pages, too.” He saw his grandfather frown at him for a moment; Isshin was smart, he probably had an idea now of what this was, of why Genichiro was so upset. And then he heard a sudden inhale that he had not been expecting. He turned to see the reaction, expecting maybe that small smile Grandfather wore when Genichiro had finally figured out a particular stance or solved a tricky issue for one of the border villages, maybe about to throw an arm around his shoulders and giving a blame deflecting explanation for leaving his grandson in a border village to grow up poor and hungry and unprotected from the violence he was spreading.

Genichiro was not expecting a wide eye and open mouth, the sudden glance from the page to his face and back; nor did he expect Isshin clapping the diary shut and trapping Genichiro in the strongest hug he had given since before he got sick.

“I didn’t- she never-” Isshin wasn’t normally a person who was lost for words; that, and how bad he was at lying directly to someone, made Genichiro realize he was not faking this. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

Genichiro dropped the bow to return the hug.

“I thought you knew. I thought, maybe-”

“I would not leave my family in a border village! I-” Isshin froze for a second, then made a chuffing sound and a bark of a laugh. “Gyoubu is never going to shut up once he hears this.” He sighed at his grandson’s inquisitive noise, and answered as he gathered a sleeve to wipe away salt trails left on his grandson’s face.

“Gyoubu, and Tomoe, and Shikibu, and Shume and while they were here the other Ashina Spears all were convinced we were related, and pestered me until I ordered them to stop. I did not believe our similarities were due to being related, fool that I am. I dread to think how much money Shikibu will have won.”

“They thought we were related? Tomoe never said anything. Neither did Gyoubu. Why-”

“They had no solid proof, just a handful of coincidences that turned out to be correct. They could tell me their suspicions because right or not I made my choice. But they thought telling you with no hard proof and me denying it would just hurt you.”

“Then...we’re actually related, aren’t we. I’m not just your adopted grandson, I’m…”

“Yes. It appears you were my grandson even before I adopted you.” Genichiro nodded, blinking away tears. Then he gave up staying formal and started to laugh as he cried, and pulling away slightly from his grandfather, he sat down on the weeds growing around the area he had chosen to practice in.

“Really? Just… really?” he gestured at the book as Isshin sat besides him. “Two weeks before her wedding, really?”

“She did not tell me that! And she never came and told me afterwards, when I would have taken all of them in!” Isshin opened the diary back to the page, then glanced at the neat writing in front of the book. The crossed out word was her last name before she had married. Now those memories were coming back; he had met her with her original clan name and had never recognized the married name. “I was not too busy for a child. I wish she had told me.” Both were quiet for a few minutes beyond the occasional sniffle before Genichiro broke the silence.

“So. Now what?”

“I… I do not know.”

* * *

“They’re sitting now. Talking. I can’t make out what they’re saying, they’re too far away.” The Nightjar was perched on the rooftop, peering through his monocular. “Looks like Lord Genichiro isn’t going to completely lose it anymore.” Jinsuke sighed with relief as Gyoubu grinned. Emma muttered something, quietly, before sharply reminding Gyoubu he was on _bed rest_ and not allowed to climb out the window to look through the bamboo tube.

Shume and Shikibu were talking quietly in a corner of the room; Jinsuke and Emma, as the only two non Ashina Spears present in the room, were being tolerated, while the ninja on the roof was the source of information since everyone had been ordered out of that area of the outskirts.

“What happened that made Genichiro take off like that but still let Isshin talk him down?” Wondered Emma quietly as she started weighing ingredients for a salve while keeping an eye on Gyoubu fidgeting. “Normally if he’s angry enough to take off, he’s angry enough that a few minutes talking with Isshin won’t calm him down.”

“I have a guess as to what could have caused that reaction.” Shikibu took a breath to continue and was cut off by Gyoubu, speaking forcefully enough Emma turned to reprimand him again.

“No! That matter is closed. And you know that and have known it every time you bring it up.” He ignored the confused glance between Emma and Jinsuke and the Nightjar peering in through the window. The ninja turned away from the room in the traditional avoidance-of-an-awkward-situation manner and resumed his spying while Emma returned to her salve.

“They’re coming back!”

“Then they will tell us what is going on.” Gyoubu resettled himself on his pallet. “And no more of you, Shikibu, you know that is not what they will tell us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like with chapter one there may be some editing done later when my beta reader is feeling better. 
> 
> Yes I wrote the entire thing in one go and arbitrarily decided where to draw the chapter line.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a good reason this is in two chapters it just is.
> 
> There is a decent chance there will be edits made at some point; my wonderful beta reader has been unable to get to this but I wanted to post it anyway. Realistically just grammar edits when that happens but I'll do a patch log.
> 
> Side note of making a hinted thing explicit: Isshin caught a disease when he was probably under 10 that he is pretty sure left him unable to have kids. What disease? That would take research of what would have been present and the internet thinks "Sengoku Period Japan" means "Edo Period Japan" and I'm not feeling like hardcore research for something that wouldn't really be talked about.


End file.
